WASHINGTON – New regulations on issuers of asset-backed securities are being proposed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), as the US securities watchdog moves to flesh out the requirements of the Dodd-Frank Reform Act, which became law in July.

BRUSSELS – Policymakers in the EU have been urged by Britain’s top regulator not to lose sight of the really important regulatory reform issues by focusing too much on lesser areas of concern that were not at the root of the global financial crisis. The crisis had many causes, including those on which popular attention often focuses, such as absurd banker bonuses, excessive risk-taking and exotic products that were not understood, Adair Turner, head of Britain’s Financial Services Authority (FSA) told a Brussels conference in late September.

WASHINGTON – Although policymakers have agreed important regulatory reforms, much still needs to be done, and the sooner the better, says the International Monetary Fund, (IMF), the Washington multilateral agency that monitors global economic and financial conditions. Policymakers cannot afford to relax their efforts to reduce refinancing risks, strengthen balance sheets, and reform regulatory frameworks, the agency says in its twice-yearly Global Financial Stability Report, (GFSR)* released in early October.

NEW YORK - Comments expected in coming weeks are likely to show that US and international accounting rule-makers are very close to a high quality set of standards for life insurance and property and casualty accounting, according to a top US insurance industry spokesman.

WASHINGTON – Bankers returned to the fray in October in their continuing clash with regulators over the economic costs of the tougher regulation that’s coming their way in the wake of the global financial crisis.

WASHINGTON - Governments must take urgent action to strengthen systemic regulation, including giving clear mandates and political independence to regulators to develop system-wide action plans, according the Group of 30 think tank of leading financiers and academics.

BASEL – More resilient ‘repo’ markets would result from measures to bolster clearing and settlement infrastructure, according to a study into why repo markets proved a less reliable source of funding liquidity than expected in some countries during the global financial crisis.

WASHINGTON – US regulators issued final rules in September on a ‘safe harbour’ for securitisations that require originating banks to keep a ‘skin-in-the-game’ 5% interest in the issues to aid market stability.

Global accounting goal still threatened. But departure of American standard-setter's chairman may mean changes in fair value stance By David Keefe

Basel Committee lays it on the line for America’s accounting rule-maker, as it worries about global convergence